‘I’ve divorced the dressing room’ – Ravi Shastri reflects on life after leaving coaching job

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri shared his candid thoughts on handling criticism, especially when it turns personal. Being a successful coach, commentator, and coach with decades of experience in international cricket, Shastri opened up about how his perspective has evolved across different roles in the game.

The 63-year-old admitted that criticism used to impact him deeply during his initial playing days, particularly when it used to become personal. However, with time and maturity, the Mumbai-born learnt to process such moments better and focus on what he thought added value to his progress.

“When I was a player, I would be criticized. And when it got personal, it would disappoint me. But then as time goes by you know how to handle those situations. I prefer criticism that’s constructive. Right?,” said the all-rounder during an event arranged by the ICC in association with Marriott Bonvoy.  

The ace commentator then shared his approach as an on-air commentator. Shastri stressed the importance of honesty and professional detachment and staying honest to the job despite being close to the players, without worrying about hurting them. He noted that his responsibility lies with the viewer and the game itself. 

“When I became a broadcaster, I said, ‘I’ve divorced the dressing room. And I will speak on what I see. It doesn’t matter if you are my colleague or you are my friend when I was playing the game. I will speak on what I see because I have to let the viewer know the truth. Okay?’ So that is my opinion,” he added.

The former India all-rounder further reflected on his coaching tenure, acknowledging that criticism is inevitable in a high-pressure role, and it becomes very important to know that success and failure are a part of this process, and he never got attached to those things as a coach.

“As a coach again, but that’s something you expect. And, I, in my tenure there, there were good moments and there were rough moments, but again you just got to take it in your stride because you know, there’s another game coming up. You know, one day you’re in a pole position, the next day you’re in a troll position, [so] that can happen. But in a week you can see all three, you can be in pole, troll, again, pole. So just take it in your stride,” Shastri concluded.